Do this first

Inspect a living plot before changing anything. Write down its crop, stage, water reading and visible warnings. A dead tile alone cannot tell you which condition failed.

Evidence boundary. A checklist for 42.21, based on official patch notes and older wiki background. Hidden farming rules and death probabilities have not been checked in the current game.
Original farming illustration accompanying this checking guide.
Original illustration, not an in-game screenshot or a verified layout.

Start with what you can still observe

When a whole row fails after a supply run, it is tempting to blame the last thing you did. Instead, separate living plants, dead plants and empty tiles. They are different observations. Inspect one surviving plant and record the game date, crop name, stage and any water or disease information your character can actually see. Leave unknown fields unknown.

Record the last time the failed plants were alive as well. A healthy water reading on a surviving tile does not reconstruct the water history of the dead row. Use the crop triage tool to order your next checks, not to manufacture a diagnosis.

Source: PZWiki · Agriculture · Older wiki background

Crop inspection sequence: patch and mods, living plant observations, then one controlled check.Patch + modsLiving plot infoDate + locationOne controlled next checkCOLLECT BEFORE CHANGING
Original troubleshooting schematic. It illustrates a checking workflow, not a simulation of game rules.

Check these in order

  1. Confirm the exact client version, server version and whether farming mods are active. Keep a screenshot of the world’s relevant sandbox options.
  2. Compare a living plant’s water reading with the minimum shown for that same crop. If either value is hidden, do not substitute a number from an old crop table.
  3. Read the crop’s learned planting information and compare it with the sowing date, not only today’s month. Record an actual warning rather than guessing from real-world gardening.
  4. Copy any visible disease name. Check its specific treatment before using supplies. Do not use fertilizer as a universal rescue.
  5. Look for patterns: an entire planting batch, a single crop type, a road through the farm, or only one location. Each pattern is a lead for a controlled check.

Do player footsteps kill crops?

No, according to the clarification in the official 42.21 patch notes. The player pathfinding change is cosmetic; it is not evidence that your character crushed the row. Keep that separate from possible zombie or vehicle damage.

Source: The Indie Stone · full 42.21 patch notes · Official patch notes

Make the next planting informative

Before clearing the evidence, note the failed batch’s sowing date and location. Start a small comparison plot of the same crop in a supported planting window. Keep its location, water checks and settings recorded. Change one suspected condition at a time; changing the roof, season, fertilizer and mods together produces a result you cannot interpret.

If the problem recurs, keep a short timeline with the last live inspection, the first decline and the first dead state. Include the patch, mod list, server settings and screenshots when seeking help. Avoid attaching a save that exposes information you do not want to share. This timeline is more useful than simply reporting “everything died overnight.”

Choose the next branch

Sources & verification

Original checking steps are editorial recommendations. This site has not run a game test or inspected a local 42.21 installation. Source review and page update dates describe different work.

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